Seventh Heaven
by Gemna Lafierre
Summary: They're all on the run from something: ShinRa, Wutai, their own demons. Once they have all come together, can they find a way to escape together or will their plans all fall apart?


Seventh Heaven

Tifa was cleaning up after a long night. The bar had been unusually busy and had kept her on her toes the entire evening. Her best bartender had called off - a family emergency, or so he said - and that left the busty brunette severely short-staffed. Her cook was new to the bar and couldn't keep up with the orders, her waitress was slow, and Tifa couldn't help either of them because she was stuck behind the bar all night.

She sighed heavily as she collected the half-empty bottles and drained glasses, wishing for just one thing to go right. Her bar was successful but she was still struggling to pay her bills. The loans she had taken out to update her bar were astonomical and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to pay her rent on her tiny studio apartment and make her loan payment when they were due. The Seventh Heaven may have stretched her just a bit too thin monetarily. She supposed she could skip on her groceries and just eat at the bar...

The door opened behind her and she straightened from sweeping the hardwood floor. "We're closed," she announced without looking at the would-be patron.

"I know," a tenor voice replied. "But I think I left my wallet here."

Tifa thought for a moment then turned toward the man. She was struck by eyes the most extraordinary blue she had ever seen. He was shorter than most men with a muscular build and blond hair that spiked up in an obviously styled fashion. He was scratching the back of his head with his right hand, a sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry, but I've been everywhere else I could think of and haven't found it yet."

She smiled. "I'll see if someone stuck it behind the bar," she replied, making her way across the room. "Sometimes there are good samaritans out there that actually turn in wallets and purses. Usually, though..." She trailed off, not needing to elaborate. Most people sucked.

The blond man followed her to the bar and leaned against it to watch her search. Tifa was a beautiful woman with long legs, a nice figure, and enchanting eyes. The man wasn't immune to her looks and caught himself looking a little too long at her as she was bent over searching for his wallet. He had seen her in the bar earlier that evening while he was conducting business but never thought about actually speaking to her. She was beyond out of his league.

She stood back up and gave him a sad smile. "Sorry, but it's not here. What's your name and number so if I find it, I can call you."

"Cloud." He reached into his pocket and got out his phone. "How 'bout I just call you and check in?"

Tifa felt her heart skip a little. "I'm Tifa Lockheart."

She rattled off her personal cell number and Cloud left, pausing at the door to cast her another smile. Once he was gone, she locked the door to the bar so no one else would wander in and frowned. She knew where his wallet was or, rather, who had it. She would have to track down the little thief she had seen in her bar earlier. Usually, Yuffie was well-behaved in Seventh Heaven, but upon occasion she forgot her manners when Tifa was too busy to talk.

The busty brunette pulled out her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. Yuffie was her best friend but she had definitely overstepped her bounds this time. Tifa was going to have a few words with her. As the phone rang, a jingling sound came from behind the bar. The woman clicked the button to hang up and let out a sigh of frustration.

"Of course, she left it," Tifa mumbled to herself. "She hates the thing, why would she carry it with her? Maybe because someone might need to get hold of her? Good thing this isn't an emergency."

The jingling sounded again and Tifa checked her phone to make sure she hadn't accidentally called again. Confirming that she hadn't, she dashed over to pick up Yuffie's phone. The caller ID had a picture of Barret Wallace.

"Hello?"

"Teef! Oh good! I couldn't remember where I'd left my phone and I walked all around the slums looking for it but couldn't find it even though I checked at the restaurant and Barret's - because I thought maybe I left it over here when I dropped Marlene's birthday present off-"

Tifa has the phone held away from her ear as the younger woman prattled on about everywhere she has looked for the phone that Tifa was currently holding. "You left it behind the bar," Tifa said quickly as Yuffie took a breath. "I was trying to call you and found it."

"Oh! Why were you calling me at four in the morning? Did you meet a guy?" She gasped. "Did you _sleep_ with a guy?Oh, Teef! Tell me everything!" A deep voice in the background told Yuffie to shut up because he didn't want to know. "Spoil sport," Yuffie taunted back at him. "So?"

"Well, I... I kinda met a guy," Tifa started but was cut off by a high-pitched squeal on the other end. She waited for Yuffie to calm down enough that she could talk again. "He's missing his wallet. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Yuffie hummed, as she did when she was thinking. "Blond guy? Weird blue eyes? Sitting the tall, dark, and mysterious?"

"I don't know aobut the other guy but Cloud is blond with blue eyes. His hair was spiky. He was wearing a navy blue shirt and jeans."

"Yup," the other woman replied. "Cloud Strife. Lives in... Nibelheim? Wow, he's a long way from home. Maybe he just moved here or something."

Tifa sighed in relief. "I will get it from you tomorrow. He came back looking for it after we closed and I gave him my number so he can call and check back." She paused, thinking. "Yuffie?"

"Hn?"

"Did you take his gil?" The silence on the other end was more telling than is she had confirmed it herself. "Yuffie! Put that man's money back in his wallet and meet me at my apartment in ten minutes!"

"Oh, fine... See ya in a few."

Tifa hung up the phone and shook her head. That kleptomaniac had to be stopped. They needed to stage an intervention.

Yuffie stuffed the black wallet into her pocket and grabbed her jacket off the chair she had been pacing past. She always paced when she was on the phone. And talked too much, too fast. She really hated phones. They were torture devices. She preferred to text or even write letters. Phones caused some anxiety for her.

"Where the hell are you goin' at this time of the night?"

Yuffie's gray eyes looked up at the large, muscle-bound man known as Barret. He was a better father figure to her than her actual father. Godo was such a drag, always babbling on and on about traditions and what was expected of her once she reached a certain age. She had another six months before she had to return home and fulfill the expected duties. She was going to have as much fun as possible before then. Barret tried to keep her out of trouble and offered her a place to stay until she left for Wutai. Her father had been searching for her for the past year but she had evaded him.

"Tifa wants me to return that guy's wallet. Really, I think she just wants a reason to see him again." She flashed the big man a cheeky grin. "Maybe I can play match maker and hook her up with this dreamy Cloud guy!"

Barret frowned, a line creasing his forehead. "Cloud? Cloud Strife?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah! You know him?"

"Yeah, I know 'em a'right. Worked with him on a few jobs." Barret shrugged. "He's cocky but good at what he does."

She stared at him hard for a minute, then it clicked. "He's in AVALANCHE!?"

Barret shushed her, looking pointedly in the direction of his seven-year-old's room. "Yer gonna wake her up, ya brat! He's not _in_ AVALANCHE exactly. He jus' helped out a few times."

Yuffie was nearly vibrating with this news. Tifa was a big proponent of what AVALANCHE was about. Cloud helping them out would totally endear him to her more. Tifa had housed members, supplied food for meetings, even let them have meetings in her-

"Oh! That's what he was doing there!" she said excitedly. "I gotta go! I gotta hook Teef up with this guy!"

Before Barret could say anything, the ninja was gone, leaving the door to his small house standing wide open. She raced across the slums, sticking to the shadows to keep off the radar of the unmentionable types. Her mind was in overdrive, thinking about all of the new information about this Cloud guy. She had been trying, unsuccessfully, to find Tifa a guy that would understand her feelings on ShinRa and was willing to help fight the good fight.


End file.
